


Looking for another tomorrow

by hope_calaris



Series: What being Mark's PA really means [3]
Category: Social Network (2010)
Genre: M/M, Post Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-04
Updated: 2011-12-04
Packaged: 2017-10-26 21:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/288049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hope_calaris/pseuds/hope_calaris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dustin thinks he’s okay, that they are okay. At least as okay as they can get now that they’re not the Fab Four anymore, which -- okay -- is not exactly a really nice example of okay, but at least it’s something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Looking for another tomorrow

Dustin thinks he’s okay, that they are okay. At least as okay as they can get now that they’re not the Fab Four anymore, which -- okay -- is not exactly a really nice example of okay, but at least it’s something. He is holding on. And holding on, he thinks, deserves a fucking prize these days. Because it’s not easy, going to work every day, even if the Facebook offices are really, really nice. Like “Oh my god, they’re actually paying me to work here? Ha ha, deal of a lifetime!”-nice. Only that this deal also included losing Wardo, which -- yeah -- Dustin doesn’t think any kind of office, even one with a golden floor and unicorns serving coffee, would have been worth that.

And Mark without Wardo … god, that’s a completely different story altogether. Apparently, no one -- least of all Dustin -- had any idea how much influence Wardo had on Mark. Eating, drinking, and sleeping seem to be such mundane tasks in the greater scheme of things, but they’re obviously beyond Mark’s instinct of self-preservation. Which is why Dustin happily paid for half of the flowers Chris sent Hannah, Mark’s personal assistant, because she makes sure Mark survives on a daily basis. Without her Mark would probably just die one day from sheer coding overdose, and then they’d have to pretend he’s still alive and talk to his corpse or something as not to make the investors nervous. Chris would turn grey over the PR disaster, Dustin just knows.

And because Chris has been kind of Dustin’s lifeline through the clusterfuck that has been the depositions, Dustin can’t let Mark die. So they have a system. Every morning at eight Dustin parks his car in front of Mark’s house and waits for him to get in, and then they drive to the Facebook HQ together. Because that’s what friends do, and maybe -- if they’re really lucky -- it will rub off on Mark someday. Not that Dustin expects any miracles, he’s beyond that now. The depositions made sure of that, because they showed him what happens when two world views collide. It is crash and burn until the only things left standing are hurt and sorrow and pain.

But he’s not thinking about them right now, because right now Mark is already ten minutes late and if Dustin listens a second longer to _Alabama 3_ he is going to be really depressed, so he gets out of the car. He doesn’t bother to knock or to ring the bell, because if Mark is impolite enough to make him wait, than Dustin can be impolite and walk in on him in boxer shorts. He has the key, after all. He opens the door, walks through the hallway and is about to shout really, really loud, when he sees it.

And God, he really needs to rethink his plan to ask Hannah out on a date, because she surely doesn’t want to meet him when he’s hallucinating. And he has to hallucinate, and his brain short-circuited, because there’s no way in hell that Wardo is asleep on Mark’s lap on Mark’s couch in Mark’s living room.

And Mark is running his fingers through Wardo’s still ridiculously hair.

And Mark looks happy.

Oh fuck, when did Dustin get crazy? And why did nobody tell him? And why is he the crazy one when all bets were on Mark? Dustin is the one who eats all his vegetables and gets enough sleep and has a social life.

Quite obviously, life is unfair.

The floor squeaks under Dustin’s shoes and Mark turns his head towards him. He doesn’t look the slightest bit fazed by Dustin’s appearance. Quite the contrary, he looks … serene, content, _happy_. Mark looks _happy_. Dustin thinks he may have heart attack any minute now.

“Oh, sorry, is it already eight?” he whispers, and Dustin can only nod. Mark makes no move to get up, or to explain anything. Dustin wonders if the world is ending, and nobody bothered to tell him.

“Yeah … but … um … Mark?”

“Yes?”

And really, what kind of question is that? Oh, of course, one that Mark would ask. Because finding Wardo sleeping in Mark’s lap is the most common thing in the world, right after Martians wandering through the Universal Studios, and Dustin winning the Nobel Prize for Coolness. Right.

“You … and … ” Dustin waves in the approximate direction of Wardo and then draws a question mark in the air. It’s mirror-inverted, but surely Mark gets the drift, right?

“Oh, yes, that … ” And thank God that Mark recognizes symbols everywhere, because Dustin didn’t have a second cup of coffee yet.

“So?”

“He came back,” Mark explains quietly, and if Dustin were the person to wax poetry, he’d say Mark radiates pure sunshine, but then -- it’s Mark. So he doesn’t radiate sunshine, but the frown lines have vanished and the tight corner around his mouth have relaxed. It’s actually a quite becoming look.

“He … ” Dustin’s heart makes completely unmanly jumps in his ribcage, and he knows he should be wary of this, but surely Mark hasn’t gotten off the deep end and kidnapped Wardo, right? Right. He still has to ask, though. “You didn’t … um … make him?”

Thankfully, Wardo decides to wake up before Mark’s murderous look can actually kill Dustin. He owlishly blinks first at Mark, then at Dustin, and then he blushes. It’s adorable.

“Um, hi, Dustin,” Wardo says and gets up. Mark actually looks like he lost his favorite toy now, and no, Dustin doesn’t want to think about what this actually implies. It’s like imagining his parents actually having sex to conceive him. Eeew.

“Hi, Wardo,” he says with a smug smile and waves. “Sooo, Mark, should I tell Hannah you’re not coming in today?”

“Yes,” Mark says without a second’s hesitation, and Wardo turns so fast to him that he’s risking whiplash. “Actually, make that the week. I mean … um, if that’s -- well, I don’t know if you have any plans or … ?” Mark begins to trip over his own words the way he only does when he’s really nervous.

“No, that would be … nice,” Wardo says, and he smiles so brightly Dustin doesn’t think his sarcasm can stomach any more overflowing happiness that day.

“Okayyy … ” Dustin says and goes backwards towards the front door. “See you in a week, then. Have fun doing whatever … you know.” He shrugs and smiles smugly at them. He knows he shouldn’t be doing this, because this can blow up right into their faces any moment, but he really, really wants to believe that Wardo in Mark’s house and Mark taking off a whole fucking week means something. Means something _huge_. So he’s allowed to be a bit smug about it. “And don’t forget using protection, okay? See ya!” And then he closes the door before Wardo’s cheek can return to their normal color, or Mark can fire him.

Maybe the world is ending that day, Dustin thinks when he drives over to Facebook, but at least then it’s ending on a high note.

 _\- fin_


End file.
